Love George Carlin. RIP. The most pathetic thing about the American discourse about Affirmative Action is that everyone has an opinion on what the admissions s

Love George Carlin. RIP. The most pathetic thing about the American discourse about Affirmative Action is that everyone has an opinion on what the admissions standards SHOULD be from their perspective on how society should operate. Some think admissions should be all about merit. Some think that since the first 18 years of the student's live has been unfair and racist, 4 yrs of college should somehow attempt to rectify that. Nobody realizes that the colleges don't give a shit about any of that. Admissions are there to maximize the prestige of the college. That's it. To be damned with diversity and society. Furthermore, nobody seems to recognize that Affirmative Action doesn't matter at all in the grand scheme of things. College admissions are not really about merit. Affirmative actions is not able to undo the racism and economic equities of this country. It's not able to make black and brown parents push education on their kids the same way that Asian parents do. By the time the student is 18 it's too late - society has done its worst. And so despite the fact that the US has had affirmative action for many many years, social mobility here is worse than France, Italy, Sweden, and Britain. (see https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/02/14/americans-overestimate-social-mobility-in-their-country https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/02/14/american...)